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Our Hero: My Name Is Rosemaine Jean

Rosemaine Jean is a 12-year-old girl in Brésilienne, Haiti. She first heard of cholera on the radio. Then it struck closer to home.

Rosemaine's 13-year-old brother Alexis got cholera. "He washed his hands with dirty water, and then ate with them," she explains. During a weeklong stay in a medical clinic, Alexis nearly died.

After watching her brother suffer, Rosemaine took it upon herself to learn how to treat her family's well water with UNICEF-provided purification tablets, and how to properly wash their water jugs, food and clothes. This way, she has helped keep herself and her eight brothers and two sisters disease-free. Knowledge isn't all Rosmaine gained — she also gained inspiration. "I'd like to become a nurse, too, after I finish school."

Kids helping themselves

But children like Rosemaine are not waiting for someone to solve their problems. They're learning from teachers and nurses how to stay safe. They're taking their futures into their own hands. Rosemaine chooses to spend her free time making sweets from coconuts and almonds, selling them on the side of the street to pay her school fees. Rosemaine Jean may not see herself as a hero. But we do.